Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder commonly diagnosed in women of childbearing age.
While PCOS isn’t an outwardly apparent condition, it can wreak havoc on physical and emotional health for many women. One of the most common complaints is that having PCOS can make it difficult to lose weight, a symptom that is generally related to imbalanced hormones.
Weight loss can be more challenging with PCOS, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. We’re laying out everything you need to know about how to lose weight with PCOS.
What is PCOS?
PCOS is characterized by an imbalance in hormones, including:
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Androgens: These are often referred to as “male hormones,” although both men and women produce them. People with PCOS typically have an excess of androgens like testosterone.
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Insulin: Many women with PCOS have insulin resistance, which means their cells don’t respond effectively to insulin. This leads to high insulin levels in the blood, which can stimulate the ovaries to produce more androgens and exacerbate hormonal imbalances.
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Estrogens: While estrogen levels can vary in PCOS, some women may have more estrogen than progesterone due to irregular ovulation.
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Progesterone: Women with PCOS often have low levels of progesterone, as irregular ovulation leads to fewer cycles where progesterone is produced after ovulation.
The word “polycystic” in polycystic ovary syndrome refers to the development of multiple cysts on a woman’s ovaries. These result from follicles in the ovaries that fail to release eggs regularly because of these hormone imbalances.
Other symptoms of PCOS can include:
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Irregular menstrual cycles
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Heavy or long periods
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Excess hair growth (hirsutism)
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Skin changes and acne
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Higher body mass index (BMI), obesity and difficulty losing weight
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Infertility or trouble getting pregnant
Unfortunately, PCOS can also lead to a higher risk of developing obesity-related health conditions like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
While the exact cause of PCOS remains unclear, genetics, insulin resistance and inflammation are believed to be key factors.
Managing PCOS typically involves a combination of lifestyle changes, medications to regulate hormones and, sometimes, fertility treatments for those trying to conceive.
Can You Lose Weight with PCOS?
Thanks to hormonal imbalances and other metabolic issues, many women with PCOS find it very hard to lose weight. If this describes your experience, we want to start by acknowledging how frustrating it can be. The good news is that weight loss with PCOS is absolutely possible with a comprehensive approach.
Adopting a lifestyle with regular movement and a nutrient-rich diet can be particularly beneficial. Plus, these habits are invaluable for your overall wellness. Additionally, some women with PCOS may benefit from medications or supplements prescribed by their healthcare provider to help manage symptoms and support weight loss.
While losing weight with PCOS may require patience and persistence, it can significantly improve your symptoms and overall health outcomes. Consult a healthcare provider or dietitian specializing in PCOS management and women’s health for personalized treatment options.
Why Does PCOS Cause Weight Gain?
The body is a complex system and several interconnected mechanisms can make it harder to lose weight when you have PCOS. First, insulin resistance is common in PCOS. To understand what this means, let’s start by breaking down how insulin is supposed to work.
When you eat, your body digests carbohydrates into sugar (glucose) molecules that travel to your bloodstream. In response, your pancreas releases insulin, which helps glucose get into your cells to be used for energy. In insulin resistance, however, cells don’t respond as well to insulin and sugar is left in your blood, resulting in prolonged high blood sugar levels. The pancreas continues to attempt to produce more insulin, resulting in high levels of insulin in your blood.
Insulin resistance can promote fat storage, particularly around the abdomen, and make it harder for your body to use stored fat for energy. High insulin levels can also stimulate your ovaries to produce more androgens, further disrupting hormonal balance and promoting weight gain.
In addition, the hormonal imbalances in PCOS (high levels of androgens and lower levels of female hormones) can influence metabolism in a way that encourages more fat accumulation.
Finally, having irregular periods and associated hormone fluctuations can trigger cravings for calorie-dense foods and cause trouble managing appetite.
What’s the Best PCOS Diet?
Good nutrition is essential for PCOS management and overall health. There’s no “perfect” diet or macronutrient makeup for PCOS management. A dietary pattern that prioritizes minimally processed and whole foods — and avoids ultra-processed foods — is the best way to get a variety of essential nutrients.
Prioritizing these foods also helps support healthy blood sugar regulation, hormonal balance and weight management. Add these foods to your plate to help manage your PCOS:
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Non-starchy vegetables: Incorporating plenty of leafy greens, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms and bell peppers can provide essential vitamins, minerals and fiber. This will keep you full while keeping your calorie and carb intake in check.
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Complex carbohydrates: Fiber helps promote satiety and prevent spikes in blood sugar levels. Great sources include high-fiber whole grains, legumes (beans, peas and lentils) and sweet potatoes.
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Lean proteins: Protein from lean sources like poultry, fish, tofu, tempeh and beans can help you manage your appetite and preserve lean muscle mass.
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Healthy fats: Get healthy unsaturated fats — which can benefit hormone production — from foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, hummus and olive oil.
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Antioxidants: Antioxidants help protect your cells from stress, inflammation and damage that can cause disease. Choose a variety of colorful berries, fatty fish, turmeric, dark chocolate and green tea.
As for foods to avoid with PCOS, ultra-processed foods tend to be high in saturated fat, sodium and/or added sugar. They’re also usually low in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Examples of ultra-processed foods include:
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Pastries, cookies and donuts
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Candy
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Soda
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Fruit juice
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Energy and sports drinks
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Packaged snacks and cereals made with refined white flour
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White bread, white rice and pasta made with refined white flour
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Processed meats, like bacon and hot dogs
One meal or day of ultra-processed foods won’t make or break your health. However, eating these foods frequently can promote inflammation, hormonal imbalance and weight gain. Additionally, you should limit saturated fat, which primarily comes from animal-derived sources.
Researchers recommend eating smaller meals throughout the day to help manage your appetite and blood sugar levels. If you have obesity, your healthcare provider may recommend a calorie deficit to help promote weight loss. Usually, you’ll eat around 500-750 calories less than you need to maintain your current weight.
For personalized guidance on creating a PCOS diet plan, meet with a registered dietitian or medical provider knowledgeable in PCOS management and healthy weight loss.
Other Ways to Lose Weight When You Have PCOS
The best way to manage PCOS-related weight gain? Keep it simple by focusing on everyday lifestyle habits. If you have obesity, the first line of treatment is usually lifestyle modification. If you have insulin resistance, your healthcare provider may prioritize medication — typically metformin.
Research shows that women with PCOS who achieve a healthy weight via lifestyle changes have a better quality of life and fewer medical complications associated with PCOS.
More Movement
Nutrition and physical activity go hand in hand for overall health and weight management, regardless of whether PCOS is involved. Exercise can also help improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of health complications associated with PCOS, like heart disease and diabetes.
Experts recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week, and muscle-strengthening activities two or more days per week. To get your minutes and steps in, rotate a combination of activities you enjoy, like walking, jogging, swimming, biking, playing tennis or joining a high-intensity group fitness class.
Strength training exercises can include weightlifting, using resistance bands or doing bodyweight exercises to increase lean muscle mass, boost metabolism and support weight management. If you’re new to exercise, start slowly and listen to your body as you gradually increase the intensity or duration of your workouts. Doing them with a friend or group can make it more enjoyable.
Hydration
Water is essential to health for many reasons, including PCOS management. Staying well-hydrated helps regulate hormone levels, supports metabolism and aids in healthy weight maintenance. It can also help alleviate symptoms like fatigue and bloating and help your body flush out waste, digest fat and reduce inflammation.
Furthermore, staying hydrated can help regulate your appetite and prevent overeating, especially when you drink water right before or during meals and snacks. Incorporating plenty of water-rich fruits and vegetables into your diet, along with regular water intake, can help you meet your daily hydration needs. If you get tired of plain water, try substituting plain seltzer, herbal teas or water flavored with lemon or cucumber slices occasionally.
Better Sleep
Sleep is time for your body to rest, repair and recharge. Getting enough sleep is essential for healthy hormone regulation, metabolism, weight management and overall health. Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, is associated with unintentional weight gain. It can also disrupt hormones, particularly those involved in appetite, stress response and insulin sensitivity.
Not to mention that when you don’t sleep well, you can feel like garbage — which can exacerbate fatigue, mood swings and cravings. Experts recommend adults get seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night. If this feels like a stretch, we get it — but there are some things you can do to help make quality sleep more feasible:
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Follow a regular sleep-wake schedule
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Adopt a relaxing bedtime routine you can look forward to
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Create a sleep-promoting bedroom using things like comfy PJs, breathable bedding and white noise (if needed)
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Avoid using screens close to bed, as the blue light can disrupt melatonin production and make it harder to fall asleep
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If you think you have sleep apnea, consult your healthcare provider
Weight Loss Medications
When your extra weight isn’t budging with healthy lifestyle habits alone, you may find it helpful to talk to your healthcare provider about weight loss medications. Weight loss medications work by either reducing appetite, blocking the absorption of certain nutrients or increasing energy expenditure (calories burned). They’re intended to be used alongside healthy habits, like a nutrient-rich diet and increased daily movement.
Some of the most widely used and effective weight loss medications include:
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Metformin: Metformin works for weight loss by reducing insulin resistance, improving glycemic control and decreasing appetite. It’s especially helpful for people with conditions like PCOS or type 2 diabetes.
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Topiramate: Topiramate targets brain chemicals involved in appetite regulation, leading to reduced food intake and increased feelings of fullness.
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Contrave®: This is a combination of two medications with other primary uses: bupropion, which is an antidepressant and smoking cessation aid, and naltrexone, used to treat alcohol and opioid dependence. Together, they act on different areas of the brain to reduce food cravings and decrease appetite.
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GLP-1 receptor agonists: These medications mimic the action of GLP-1, a hormone naturally produced in your intestines in response to food intake. GLP-1 helps regulate blood sugar by stimulating insulin secretion, slowing digestion, and suppressing glucagon secretion. GLP-1 medications can help reduce hunger and promote weight loss.
Hers offers custom weight loss kits, which may include any combination of the above medications. Even if you’re already taking metformin as part of your PCOS management, you may benefit from additional medications.
Losing Weight with PCOS: One Step at a Time
PCOS weight gain is frustrating, but with a multifaceted approach to healthy habits, you can regain control of your health and wellness.
If you’re living with PCOS and stubborn weight loss, remember:
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You’re not alone. Millions of women live with PCOS and the many challenges it can bring. If you’re struggling with weight loss for PCOS, know that you’re not alone, and it’s not your fault.
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There are options. PCOS may present obstacles, but that doesn’t mean you’re defenseless against them. Healthy lifestyle habits, along with weight loss medications in some cases, can be very effective.
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It’s about more than weight loss. The habits proven to support healthy weight management with PCOS are also good for your overall wellness. A combination of good nutrition, regular movement and regular sleepwill serve your long-term wellness.
This article originally appeared on Hims.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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Weight Loss Medications: Are They Actually Effective?
It’s common knowledge that managing your weight keeps you healthy now and as you get older. In fact, obesity contributes to several health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.
Not only was the prevalence of obesity in U.S. adults nearly 42 percent in 2017, but the estimated medical costs for adults with obesity were almost $2,000 more each year than for adults who do not have obesity .
Those who have a body mass index (BMI, or the measurement of fat based on height and weight) between 25 and 30 are considered overweight, while those with a BMI over 30 are considered to have obesity.
You’ve probably heard of a few weight loss medications, or at least their brand names, like Ozempic® and Wegovy®. However, there are several other prescription drugs available that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and frequently prescribed off-label for weight loss.
Healthcare providers may prescribe these medications to someone who has obesity or is overweight with a weight-related health problem like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes.
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You’re probably familiar with one of semaglutide’s brand names, Ozempic — other brand names for this drug include Wegovy and Rybelsus®.
Ozempic is approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes and may be prescribed off-label for weight loss, in combination with lifestyle changes like diet and exercise or with other diabetes medications like insulin or metformin.
Wegovy, meanwhile, is a prescription medication approved for use for weight loss in people who have obesity or who are overweight.
Ozempic and Wegovy are in a class of medication called GLP-1 receptor agonists, which mimic the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 and target areas of the brain that regulate appetite.
Ozempic was approved by the FDA in 2017, while Wegovy was granted approval to pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk more recently, in 2021.
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Although only approved by the FDA to treat diabetes, metformin is often used off-label for weight loss, as well as gestational diabetes (a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
It isn’t exactly clear how metformin helps people lose weight, but researchers think the drug works as an appetite suppressant. Similarly to Ozempic, metformin may increase how much GLP-1 hormone your body makes. This can send a signal to your brain that you’re full, which means you eat fewer calories.
Read our blog to learn about Ozempic vs. Metformin for weight loss.
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If you’ve dealt with depression or looked into medication to quit smoking, bupropion may sound familiar to you.
For weight loss, it can be combined with the drug naltrexone, which is used to treat alcohol and drug dependence, to curb your hunger or make you feel fuller sooner. Together, these medications work on two areas of the brain, the hunger center and the reward system, to reduce appetite and help control cravings.
Along with a reduced calorie diet and exercise plan, naltrexone-bupropion can also help keep excess weight off.
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Phentermine-topiramate is actually two separate medications that are combined in Qsymia, but are offered separately in other applications.
While phentermine is considered an anorectic and topiramate is an anticonvulsant, both help with appetite suppression.
Topiramate offers the added benefit of helping you feel fuller longer after you eat.
When used specifically with a healthy exercise regimen and a reduced calorie diet, these medications — either together or separately — have been shown to help people lose weight and keep it off.
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Orlistat, which belongs to a class of medications known as lipase inhibitors, reduces the amount of fat your body absorbs from the food you eat.
Orlistat is used for weight loss in conjunction with exercise and a reduced-calorie diet, as well as after weight loss to help people keep from gaining back that weight.
While the brand name Xenical requires a prescription, another brand called Alli is available in a lower dosage without one.
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Like Ozempic and Wegovy, liraglutide is an injected weight loss medication. It works as a GLP-1 receptor agonist to suppress appetite, similarly to semaglutide.
Also available under the brand name Victoza at a lower dose, this drug is FDA-approved to treat type 2 diabetes.
(Related: Weight Loss Injections: Are They Safe?)
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These weight loss drugs are all available with a prescription from a healthcare professional, but how effective are they really?
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One study found that when people without diabetes took a weekly semaglutide injection they had a higher average weight loss — almost a 15 percent average decrease in weight — than people who took a placebo.
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Metformin has also demonstrated clinically significant weight loss. A 2020 meta-analysis of 21 trials testing metformin found the drug had a modest impact on lowering BMI, especially for those who are considered to have obesity.
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A smaller study on metformin also found that the average amount of weight lost in 154 patients was between 5.6 and 7 kgs (that’s roughly between 13 and 15 pounds).
It’s also worth mentioning cost here — if you can’t afford the drug you need to take, it’s effectiveness essentially drops to zero percent. That said, there’s some wide price disparity between weight loss drugs.
For instance, injectibals like Ozempic and Wegovy are generally more expensive than orals like metformin — namely because metformin is a generic medication that’s been around for decades, and Ozempic and Wegovy are newer.
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Because everyone’s weight loss journey is different, weight loss medications may work slowly for some people and faster for others.
How long you need to take a weight loss prescription drug depends on various factors such as what side effects you experience, how much weight you need to lose, whether the drug helps keep the weight off and more.
Generally, as found in the studies noted above and clinical trials, weight loss will occur within the first few months of using the medication.
Sometimes your health care professional may recommend long-term use of the medication, while other people may be advised to stop the drug if they don’t lose a certain amount of weight after 12 weeks.
If you’re taking a weight loss medication, your healthcare provider will likely suggest that you also increase your physical activity and make healthy lifestyle changes like eating lots of protein and fiber and getting enough sleep. These medications are the most effective when combined with healthy habits.
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Just like any medication, weight loss drugs also come with the possibility of side effects.
When it comes to injectibal drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, there are some broad side effects that apply to all injectibals — like swelling, redness or other discomfort at the injection site — but generally, the side effects profiles of these drugs are similar regardless of delivery method.
The most common side effects of many of these weight loss medications include:
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Stomach pain or constipation
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Diarrhea
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Nausea
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Vomiting
Some, like liraglutide and naltrexone-bupropion, may cause an increased heart rate or headaches.
Liraglutide and semaglutide may also increase the risk of pancreatitis (swelling of the pancreas). You may also have a higher risk of developing tumors or thyroid cancer when using liraglutide or semaglutide, although these serious side effects are very rare.
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There’s a good chance you’ve heard of weight loss medications like Ozempic or even Wegovy, but there’s also a good chance that the headlines and celebrity-focused articles didn’t answer all your questions. Here’s what you need to know about whether they’re effective.
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There are several FDA-approved weight loss drugs, including semaglutide, orlistat, phentermine-topiramate, naltrexone-bupropion and liraglutide. Metformin is another common medication used off-label for weight management.
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These drugs all work slightly differently, but many decrease your appetite and help you stick to a lower-calorie diet. Healthcare providers often recommend they be used alongside regular exercise and healthy habits to maximize sustained weight loss.
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However, there are side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation and, for the injectibals, injection-side irritation, injury or discomfort. Often, these are mild and serious side effects rarely happen.
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Cost is also worth considering. Injectibals like Ozempic and Wegovy can generally cost anywhere from $800 to $1,000 per prescription, where a generic like metformin can be had for a fraction of that — usually for under $100 a month.
There’s no one “best weight loss medication” — there’s only what’s best for your particular needs. If you’re curious about medication for weight loss, you can talk to your healthcare provider for medical advice and to explore your options. And if you’re interested in other weight loss treatments online, we can help.
This article originally appeared on Forhers.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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